CHAMPAIGN, Ill.—What we learned from No. 11 Illinois’ 74-55 demolition of No. 8 Ohio State in an early Big Ten showdown at Assembly Hall on Saturday afternoon:

Abrams is an asset

After a few weeks of preseason practice, Illinois’ Tracy Abrams hadn’t done much to impress his new coaches other than accumulate turnovers at a rate that seemed, at the least, improbable. If you wonder why you’ve seen so much of Brandon Paul at point guard after he’d spent nearly his entire career playing off the ball, that is why.

Paul still manages a large percentage of the ballhandling for Illinois, in part because it puts him in position to play off ball screens, and Paul off a ball screen is the single most dangerous thing about this team.

But Abrams has become a significant weapon whose acceleration can gash a defense and whose playmaking skills complement Paul’s. Together they average 30.6 points and 6.9 assists. The dual-point attack has been one of the most effective aspects of new coach John Groce’s approach with this Illinois team.

Abrams still can be a bit wild at times. He had three turnovers before the break, perhaps losing focus as the game became almost too easy for the Illini. Given that his handling duties have been reduced, he could do better than 2.8 per game.

But his ability to get past Ohio State point guard Aaron Craft early in the game—with the help of some well-placed screens—underscored how hard this Illinois offense can be to contain.

Abrams finished with 13 points, five assists and six rebounds.

“Those guys, every day after practice they ask, ‘Coach, what’s my assist/turnover ratio?' ” Illini coach John Groce said. “You can tell they care. They weren’t perfect today handling the ball. I thought we got a little bit loose with it at times. We’ve got to clean those up a little bit. That’s probably the next part of his progression.

"I think his best asset is his competitive toughness.”

It’s not easy to win here

Illinois’ biggest obstacle to competing near the top of the loaded Big Ten—aside from all the teams responsible for it being loaded—is a relatively lean and comparatively small inside game. Its greatest asset could be all those people who show up at Assembly Hall—its slogan is “The House of Paign”—wearing orange.

The atmosphere didn’t need to be electric for this game, because Ohio State was that poor Saturday afternoon. But even with most of the seats customarily reserved for the “Orange Crush” student section being filled by less rowdy adults because of the between-semesters break, there were moments when the sound was deafening.

If Illinois can beat one of the three remaining ranked teams and win the rest, a 7-2 home record would put them in solid position. That’s going to be a challenge, but it also will be for each heavyweight that enters this building.

Matta can’t find a lineup

Ohio State coach That Matt’s best defensive lineup isn’t his best offensive lineup. The guys who might be able to spice up the offense leave holes in the defense. And that is starting to wear on the Buckeyes, who essentially have lost to every quality team they’ve played.

When they visited Duke in late November, the Buckeyes controlled the game for the first 35 minutes and only wilted at the end when their offense failed them. Against Kansas right before Christmas, they battled another of the nation’s best teams before a 10-minute field-goal drought finished them.

On Saturday, Illinois missed 11 of its first 14 3-point attempts, didn’t draw a single free throw and committed five relatively unforced turnovers before the break. One of the made 3-pointers came when veteran D.J. Richardson more or less flung the ball at the goal because one of OSU’s best defensive trips put the Illini in shot-clock jeopardy.

And with all of that, the Illini still dominated before the break, building a 37-25 lead. Ohio State was impatient with its offense, missed multiple opportunities to exploit mismatches against star Deshaun Thomas and couldn’t get anyone to finish at the rim against a team that doesn’t block shots. Shooter LaQuinton Ross twice turned it over when he tried to drive the ball. Backup guard Shannon Scott got the ball deep into the lane and tried (unsuccessfully) to score over three defenders.

With wing Sam Thompson providing no offensive relief, Ross a defensive liability and Scott uncertain except in transition, the Buckeyes’ perimeter game is incomplete. Inside, center Amir Williams is not strong enough with the ball to justify what he offers on D.

This is where advanced stats can be misleading. Ohio State entered the game as the No. 13 squad in offensive efficiency, according to kenpom.com. The only problem with that ranking is that anyone who watched this team play—even its coaches—understood there were serious offensive issues.

Egwu can be a tough cover

When the Illini use Nnanna Egwu in a ball screen and the ballhandler is able to get the corner and drive it—which happens frequently because of Paul’s strength and Abrams’ quickness—Egwu can be effective setting up in the defensive vacuum created by that penetration and knocking down a 14-foot jumper.

That doesn’t come up in every game. If Paul or Abrams isn’t able to get the ball deep, Egwu’s not going to be open. Purdue did a great job cutting off driving lanes. Ohio State did not, and paid for it as Egwu shot 7-of-10 from the field, mostly on mid-range jumpers.

Egwu averaged 1.9 points last year. He’s at only 6.0 now. But the scouting report that suggests he should be left open might be mistaken. He finished with 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting Saturday.

“The guards did a great job of setting me up,” Egwu said. “It was open. The guards did a good job of finding me and making a good pass. We had good motion, we played very well and we passed the ball very well.

“Game-by-game, you learn things – what not to, and what to do.”

Thomas can’t just be a shooter

Through the first 13 games, Thomas was shooting 40.2 percent on 3-pointers, 46.7 percent overall. So you figure all is right with his shot selection, right? Not exactly. Not all jumpshots are 3-pointers, and Thomas showed against Illinois he’s too happy to launch mid-range shots, no matter whether covered, whether there might be a better shot available.

Even when he got close to the goal, he didn’t always get close enough. Early in the second half, with the Buckeyes already down 14, he found himself matched along the left baseline, about 10 feet from the goal, against Abrams.

Thomas is 6-7; Abrams is 6-1. Shooting over Abrams head was easy enough. So that’s what Thomas did. He missed long. Another dribble or two might have meant an easy jumphook or drawn defensive attention that led to a teammate’s layup.

Thomas is in a difficult position because he’s the Buckeyes’ only reliable scorer. He must be allowed the slack to take tough shots at times. But in this game, OSU rarely got deep enough into a possession for Thomas to be forced to take tough shots. He and his teammates took what was available early, and left it at that.

“We weren’t executing to the level we wanted to execute. For whatever reason, we couldn’t get into the flow,” Matta said. “We probably forced or hurried things.”